Bifurcation analysis of the trans <-> cis rotation of monorotor molecules

[[abstract]]The bifurcation analyses of the internal rotation of three different series of monorotor molecules are investigated in this paper. Our results indicate that the types of catastrophe and topological regions are related to the generic form of potential energy function and the critical points. Namely, when the double-barrier energy function is represented as the third-order generic polynomial of the reduced reaction coordinate, the process is isomorphic to the elementary fold catastrophe. Similarly, when the triple-barrier energy functions are represented as the fourth-order generic polynomial of the reduced reaction coordinate, the process is isomorphic to the elementary cusp catastrophe.[[fileno]]2030149010039[[department]]電機工程學

Clinical use of gadobutrol for contrast-enhanced magnetic resonance imaging of neurological diseases

Kenneth T Cheng1, Hannah Y Cheng2, Kam Leung31Department of Radiology and Imaging Sciences, Clinical Center, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD, USA; 2Freelance Technical Writer, New Orleans, LA, USA; 3National Center for Biotechnology Information, National Library of Medicine, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD, USAAbstract: Contrast-enhanced magnetic resonance imaging (CE-MRI) is an important clinical tool for diagnosing neurological diseases. The appropriate use of a suitable MRI contrast agent or contrast pharmaceutical is essential for CE-MRI to produce desirable diagnostic images. Currently, there are seven contrast agents (CAs) or pharmaceuticals approved for clinical imaging of the central nervous system (CNS) in the US, Europe, or Japan. All of the clinically approved CAs are water-soluble gadolinium-based contrast agents (GBCAs) which do not penetrate the CNS blood&amp;ndash;brain barrier (BBB). These agents are used for imaging CNS areas without a BBB, or various pathologies, such as tumors and infection that break down the BBB and allow CAs to enter into the surrounding parenchyma. Clinically, GBCAs are most useful for detecting primary and secondary cerebral neoplastic lesions. Among these CNS GBCAs, gadobutrol (Gd-BT-DO3A, Gadovist&amp;trade;) is a neutral, nonionic, macrocyclic compound that showed promising results from clinical trials of CNS imaging. In comparison with other GBCAs, Gd-BT-DO3A has relatively high in vitro kinetic stability and r1 relaxivity. Gd-BT-DO3A has been recently approved by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in 2011 for CNS imaging. A review of available literature shows that Gd-BT-DO3A exhibits similar safety and clinical efficacy profiles to other GBCAs. Gd-BT-DO3A has the distinguishing feature that it is the only clinical agent commercially available in a formulation of 1.0 M concentration with a relatively higher in vitro T1 shortening per unit volume than other clinical GBCAs which are only available in 0.5 M concentration. This double concentration of Gd-BT-DO3A may allow a relatively higher concentration of the agent to localize in the CNS and produce a better contrast enhancement at the same clinical dose as other GBCAs. Several recent published multicenter clinical trials appeared to support this potential advantage of Gd-BT-DO3A.Keywords: Gadovist, Gd-BT-DO3A, CE-MRI, CNS imaging, MRI contrast agent, gadoliniu

Adaptive B-spline network control for three-phase PWM AC-DC voltage source converter

Author name used in this publication: D. SutantoVersion of RecordPublishe

Can psychological flexibility and prosociality mitigate illness perceptions toward COVID-19 on mental health? A cross-sectional study among Hong Kong adults

BACKGROUND: The negative impact of COVID-19 pandemic on public mental health can be persistent and substantial over a long period of time, but little is known regarding what psychological factors or processes can buffer such impact. The present study aimed to examine the mediating roles of coping, psychological flexibility and prosociality in the impacts of perceived illness threats toward COVID-19 on mental health. METHOD: Five-hundred and fourteen Hong Kong citizens (18 years or above) completed an online survey to measure illness perceptions toward COVID-19, coping, psychological flexibility, prosociality, and mental health, together with their socio-demographic variables. Structural equation modelling was used to explore the explanatory model that was the best-fit to illustrate the relationships between these constructs. RESULTS: Serial mediation structural equation model showed that only psychological flexibility (unstandardised beta coefficient, β = - 0.12, 95% CI [- 0.20, - 0.02], p = 0.031) and prosociality (unstandardised β = 0.04, 95% CI [0.01, 0.08], p = 0.001) fully mediated the relationship between illness perceptions toward COVID-19 and mental health. In addition, psychological flexibility exerted a direct effect on prosociality (standardised β = 0.22, 95% CI [0.12, 0.32], p < 0.001). This best-fit model explained 62% of the variance of mental health. CONCLUSIONS: Fostering psychological flexibility and prosocial behaviour may play significant roles in mitigating the adverse effects of COVID-19 and its perceived threats on public mental health

Charmless Hadronic B-Meson Decays

We give an overview of the experimental measurements and the theoretical understanding of the branching fractions and CP-violating asymmetries of charmless B-meson decays. Most experimetal results are from the BABAR and Belle experiments during the past decade. The global features of these experimental results are typically well described by the QCD-motivated theories such as QCD factorization, pQCD and soft-collinear effective theory. The agreement between theory and experiment is generally satisfactory, though there remain some unsolved puzzles that pose a great challenge to both theorists and experimentalists.Comment: 33 pages, 11 figures, 1 table, invited review to appear in Ann. Rev. of Nucl. and Part. Scienc

The Effect of Vestibular Stimulation on Eye-Hand Coordination and Postural Control in Elite Basketball Players

published_or_final_versio

Patient complexity and genotype-phenotype correlations in biliary atresia: a cross-sectional analysis

published_or_final_versio

Modulation of human cardiac transient outward potassium current by EGFR tyrosine kinase and Src-family kinases

Aims: The human cardiac transient outward K + current Ito (encoded by Kv4.3 or KCND3) plays an important role in phase 1 rapid repolarization of cardiac action potentials in the heart. However, modulation of I to by intracellular signal transduction is not fully understood. The present study was therefore designed to determine whether/how human atrial I to and hKv4.3 channels stably expressed in HEK 293 cells are regulated by protein tyrosine kinases (PTKs). Methods and results: Whole-cell patch voltage-clamp, immunoprecipitation, western blotting, and site-directed mutagenesis approaches were employed in the present study. We found that human atrial I to was inhibited by the broad-spectrum PTK inhibitor genistein, the selective epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) kinase inhibitor AG556, and the Src-family kinases inhibitor PP2. The inhibitory effect was countered by the protein tyrosine phosphatase inhibitor orthovanadate. In HEK 293 cells stably expressing human KCND3, genistein, AG556, and PP2 significantly reduced the hKv4.3 current, and the reduction was antagonized by orthovanadate. Interestingly, orthovanadate also reversed the reduced tyrosine phosphorylation level of hKv4.3 channels by genistein, AG556, or PP2. Mutagenesis revealed that the hKv4.3 mutant Y136F lost the inhibitory response to AG556, while Y108F lost response to PP2. The double-mutant Y108FY136F hKv4.3 channels showed no response to either AG556 or PP2. Conclusion: Our results demonstrate that human atrial Ito and cloned hKv4.3 channels are modulated by EGFR kinase via phosphorylation of the Y136 residue and by Src-family kinases via phosphorylation of the Y108 residue; tyrosine phosphorylation of the channel may be involved in regulating cardiac electrophysiology. © The Author 2011.postprin

A profile of the online dissemination of national influenza surveillance data

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Influenza surveillance systems provide important and timely information to health service providers on trends in the circulation of influenza virus and other upper respiratory tract infections. Online dissemination of surveillance data is useful for risk communication to health care professionals, the media and the general public. We reviewed national influenza surveillance websites from around the world to describe the main features of surveillance data dissemination.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>We searched for national influenza surveillance websites for every country and reviewed the resulting sites where available during the period from November 2008 through February 2009. Literature about influenza surveillance was searched at MEDLINE for relevant hyperlinks to related websites. Non-English websites were translated into English using human translators or Google language tools.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>A total of 70 national influenza surveillance websites were identified. The percentage of developing countries with surveillance websites was lower than that of developed countries (22% versus 57% respectively). Most of the websites (74%) were in English or provided an English version. The most common surveillance methods included influenza-like illness consultation rates in primary care settings (89%) and laboratory surveillance (44%). Most websites (70%) provided data within a static report format and 66% of the websites provided data with at least weekly resolution.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>Appropriate dissemination of surveillance data is important to maximize the utility of collected data. There may be room for improvement in the style and content of the dissemination of influenza data to health care professionals and the general public.</p

High pressure sensor based on photonic crystal fiber for downhole application

Author name used in this publication: H. Y. Tam2009-2010 > Academic research: refereed > Publication in refereed journalVersion of RecordPublishe